hello, i'm monita rajpal. a sexual abuse case gathers against dominique strauss-kahn in france. a lawyer in france says he will file a complaint today, accusing strauss-kahn of sexually assaulted french writer vision bernard in 2003. the former french finance minister is at a critical time, as it faces a widespread sovereign debt crisis in europe.

venezuelan president, hugo chavez says he is on the road to recovery. it may be a long one. he returned to caracas unexpectedly on monday. he had been in cuba for more than a month. during that time, he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. the case of the mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, is going to the jury. the defense says, the little girl drowned in a family pool. "world business today," starts right now. a very good morning to you, from cnn london. this is "world business today." these are the top stories. safety bosses tell us they will

decide in 48 hours whether or not to keep tiger airlines grounded. it's the first day on the job for the new imf chief. "world business today," as the scoop. and india is hungry for change, as rising food prices punish millions of people living in poverty. first, let's get straight to the markets. uncertainty is overshadowing trade at the moment. most of the markets are down. it's a gloomy start to the session in europe, as well. here's how things stand. in the first hour of trading, a number of indices, able to hold on to early morning gains. but we've had the cac 40 moving down one-third at the moment. most markets ended the day lower. and the main reason for the caution here was the prospect of

more monetary policy changing on monday. inflation is still a major problem in the second-biggest economy. investors were also focused on australia's central bank. as expected, this central bank left things unchanged. it looks as though that's likely where they're going to be staying in the near term. the reserve bank of australia, said that the country's growth may be weaker than expected going forward. and the aussie dollar did slip on the back of that news. looking ahead to the start of business in the u.s., traders will be back to work after a three-day holiday weekend. yesterday was independence day. for travelers wanting to fly within australia, this is what

it looks like at the airport at the moment. canceled flight after canceled flight. tiger airways remains grounded since saturday. and a spokeswoman says there's no guarantee of things going back to normal. >> we are hopeful. but obviously, we can't presuppose the outcome of the -- we do wish to reassure australia and all of our passengers that safety is and always has been a number one priority for the airline. >> that hasn't stopped tiger airline from selling tickets for this weekend. it says that tiger airways must make sure that customers understand fully that future flights are still very much, if you'll forgive the pun, up in the air. top executives for the airline tried to make their case in a meeting with regulators on monday. peter gibson, a spokesman for the safety authority, says the

decision to lift the flight ban will come in the coming days. >> many of the pilots come from overseas. but a lot of them are experienced pilots. what we're really concerned about is the ongoing training that tiger is giving their pilots and the checking of their pilots throughout their flying careers with tiger. we've got concerns that there's systematic problems with their ongoing training throughout their career. >> so, what is it specifically about this ongoing training? and what kind of systematic problems are you talking about? >> well, part of what we're doing right now is working on those specific questions. we're investigating the most recent incident, which was last

thursday night. and we're looking at a range of other issues. we're trying to get down to the nitty-gritty of what's going wrong. and then, we have to step back and say what are the systemic charges. what are the improvements to the systems and processes that are needed with the airline, to make sure these things don't happen again. >> now, the grounding is for five days. so, technically, it ends at midnight friday night. what is the next step here? >> the next step is to determine to complete our investigations and other work before the ban runs work on friday. we haven't got to that position yet. we'll try to make that decision as soon as possible. it will be some time in the next 48 hours. if we decide we need more time, we have to go to the federal

court of australia and apply for an extension of the grounding. >> you have crisis talks going on right now, with the civil aviation authority and the management of tiger airways. what conditions need to be met in order for the grounding to be lifted? >> well, that's part of what's going on right now, to work out the answers to those sorts of questions. we need, obviously, to have confidence that tiger can operate safely once they get back in the air. and a program of improvements can be put in place. before that, though, we're going to fully investigate the latest incidents. there's a lot of things to determine. the specific answers. we're still working on it. we haven't got them at this stage. >> for more of what could come next for tiger airways, reporter mark o'brien joins us now from melbourne. how realistic is it that this airline could be given the all-clear for 48 hours? that's not a lot of time to

quell these safety fears. mark o'brien. i'm checking that you can hear me. it's nina dos santos in london. >> i'm sorry. i can't quite hear at the moment. let me try to ask you again, mark. >> breakup on the line here. >> briefly, how realistic is it to expect they'll be given the all-clear in 48 hours? >> this is going to be difficult. there's been 48,000 passengers have been inconvenienced by this. they are watching closely to see if the civil aviation authority will allow the planes back into the air. it comes at the worse time possible. it's school holidays in this

country. travel plans have been thrown into chaos. and everybody is waiting to see if the talks will resolve the matter by saturday. at this stage, there's no implication for that deadline to be extended. right now, there's a lot of people very confused. a lot of people very angry that this has happened to them. they've made their plans. now, that option has disappeared. a lot of people are just waiting. the best they can hope for at the moment, is a refund. but there's going to be backlogs. and everybody can get in the sky as quickly as possible. for now, things are distressing for many people who have bought their ticket and can't go anywhere. >> this comes already after a couple weeks of trouble with the ash cloud from chile. australian travelers must be fed up of going to the airport and seeing page after page of canceled flights.

well, there has been the ash cloud. there is this problem with tiger. the ash cloud is gong and things are back to normal. it's a bonus for the other airlines that are able to step in and take part of the load. i guess people are checking the websites and their tickets closely when they can get up. most of the problems have settled down. being school holidays, it's a crucial time of the year here. people want to get away to warmer areas in australia. for many people, that's not happening. >> speaking of natural disasters and the ramifications. i must also ask you something interesting. there's been a tremor in melbourne where you are. can you tell us what it felt like?

>> sure. i was in the newsroom when it happened, about 11:30 our time. it was 4.4 on the richter scale. a lot of people were looking around at each other. there hasn't been reports of widespread damage. it was 120 ks from melbourne. about 75 miles in your terms. yeah. it was a big shake. it felt like a big shake. we're not used to that sort of magnitude earthquake. for many people, they got a frigtd. but everything is fine. a most unusual event. >> mark o'brien, network 10 reporter, from melbourne. neighboring new zealand was hit by an earthquake on tuesday.

the 6.5 magnitude quake was felt on most of the country. it was centered in taupo. but it was felt as far down as the capital of wellington. residents were shaken. but there's been no reports of any damage so far. as network 10's reporter, mark o'brien, was telling us. you're watching "world business today." her first day on the job as the head of the imf. we'll look at the kind of leader that lagarde is bound to be. a place where money seems to be no object. and gracing group buying sites.

♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪

♪ hah

nymex trieding down on 28 cents on the dollar. from cnn london, this is "world business today." welcome back. a die after winning thailand's general election, the new prime minister has announced her government will reopen an investigation into her brother. he is the former prime minister. his corruption conviction back in 2008, sparked political violence that claimed more than 90 lives last year. the new prime minister's says that reconciliation is an urgent task. japan's reconstruction minister resigned on monday, after making comments that were widely seen as insensitive. he told the government, we do not help people. the minister held his job for only about a week as a result. his resignation is the latest headache for the prime minister

now. and the journalist, is filing sexual assault charges against dominique strauss-kahn. it comes as the case in the united states appears to be on shaky ground. strauss-kahn's lawyer has filed a counterclaim. let's go more on that final story. to do so, we join jim bittman joining us today. he was to be a presidential hopeful for the 2012 elections. >> reporter: well, it could be. one of the things we're waiting to see if the prosecutor actually files charges. they're filing a complaint back in 2003. she was a young journalist.

and she says that strauss-kahn assaulted her in an empty apartment, while she was trying to get an interview with him. in any case, the prosecutor has to take her complaint and decide if there's sufficient evidence eight years on, to file charges against strauss-kahn. that could take a while before that is ascertained. on the question of his political future, there was a public opinion poll that came out this morning that indicates most french would not like him to present himself as a presidential candidate. at least not right now. about 54% according to that survey, said it would not be a good idea if he was a presidential candidate. >> why would that be, jim? is it because his name is, to a certain extent,s be sullied by the accusations he's facing on the other side of the atlantic. >> reporter: i think that's probably a big part of that. and not only has his name been dragged through the mud. but there may be some reality to the mud that it's been dragged

through. what we still don't know how this is going to turn out in new york. and while the case is faltering, according to reports, we're getting from here, there could be some evidence that comes out that could be damaging. in any case, we don't know that. i don't think voters know that. this is not particularly a popular thing with women in france. we don't know how they're going to turn out and vote. for the socialist party, he's a very strong candidate, compared to the other candidates they have out there. i mean, they'd like to see him run. by the same token, if he's not going to run with positives, it's going to be room for the right to attack him if he runs. he'll probably not be the socialist party candidate. >> okay, jim bitterman, joining us from minnesota paris. many thanks as always. as of today, there's a new face, a french face, at the international monetary fund.

christian le guard follows the dramatic departure of dominique strauss-kahn. le guard has a tough battle, winning one of the top financial jobs in the western world. the question is, what kind of leader is the fund's first female m.d. likely to be. transcript of a video message taped for the staff of the imf, obtained by cnn, seems to shed some light on her top priorities. she acknowledges the recent turmoil at the fund, saying i know recent events have not been pleasant for any of you. she will move hard to move things on. le guard promises a number of things. to listen, to be attentive to all and to communicate with staff. she has hinted at a bigger role for the world's emerging markets, saying she's not just a candidate for a particular country, region or a group of

countries. she's the director and head of the imf for all of its staff. interesting insights into the new lady at the helm of the imf as of today. still ahead, we'll look at the companies setting up shop in dubai. and also, after six years, after first listed on the nasdaq in new york, china's biggest search engine goes one step further, with a little help from a foreign friend.

welcome. i understand you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really? absolutely, and we guarantee results, you know, for a small fee, of course. such are the benefits of having a professional on your side. [whistles, chuckles] why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract?

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at...

welcome back. you're watching "world business today," live on cnn. now, dubai is known for its flash and its crash. nevertheless, in an emirates, group buying on discount websites is taking off. marketplace midwest analyst, kim hiala, has the story. >> reporter: from her home in dubai, she logs on to gonabit.com. >> first thing in the morning, i check to see if i have e-mails or texts from the night before, to see what the deal of the day is. >> reporter: the mother of three, an american, is one of the many people in the region taking advantage of online group buying that's all the rage.

>> it's also introducing you to a new facilities offered here in dubai. >> reporter: group buy is a strategy originating in china. several combining over thor in internet. the group agrees to paying for a service for less. even though the sites have been up and running for a few years, in the midwest, it's a new phenomenon. >> they've been growing in the middle east. due to the economic crisis, primarily, people are going online to look for deals, basically. however, i would say it's a new phenomenon, yeah. >> reporter: the pioneer in the region is gonabit. the company says it has a 40% market share. its reason for starting the website was simple.

>> people are always looking to do more without necessarily spending anymore. we don't ship a physical product. you receive it by e-mail. we don't need to know where you live. we don't need your p.o. box. don't need to ship across boarders and things like this. >> reporter: there are others. >> every day, we feature discounts on experiences across the midwest. >> reporter: since its launched its first online portal in dubai, customer traffic has grown. and the company has seen days with sales exceeding $350,000 u.s. can a region known for its flash and cash, filled with gleaming buildings on just about everything, make the switch from bling to bargains and couture to

coupons. >> everyone likes a discount. >> reporter: especially in a land where bartering is an old tradition. kim kelita, dubai. a high-powered deal of microsoft is going after a bigger share of china's search market. and online security is in the news again. we'll sit down with the pros to find out what makes the computer vulnerable.

from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos.

this is "world business today." let's go to the markets here in europe. they're gaining some ground here, about 90 minutes into the trading session. markets on the other hand, in asia, mostly lower. here in europe, it's a mixed picture. the only market that's down at the moment is the cac 40. there's a reason for that. the large french retailer and supermarket company, its shares are tanking to the tune of 10%, amid concerns about a deal in brazil that was pivotal to the growth of the economy, analysts said. in the meantime, we have the fat ftse pushing higher, up by 18%. and it's a similar for the dax at the moment. let's look how asia fared. it couldn't shake off the uncertainty we've seen, leading to some of the albeit modest losses today.

we've seen losses around the asia-pacific region. mainly, from china's central bank, signaling a possibility. also, australian's central bank, after it decided to keep interest rates on hold as expected. it did lower its growth outlook for the economy. the s&p asx 200, down. nikkei up. but only slightly. the shanghai composite, up 13%. traders will be back at work after a holiday weekend. yesterday was july 4th, independence day. most are looking higher at the moment. china's largest search engine, baidu has a new partner with microsoft. it will see better english

language search results at the moment. let's go to the business onlyist who tells us what the deal is. hi, ramy. >> central is the expansion of each side's user base. baidu says it has more than 10 million english searchers. that's growing as more people learn english in the country. the tieup with bing will increase its strength. for microsoft, it's all about market share. look at the players in china's search market engine today. baidu is the largest player. it has a 75% share of the searching market. this is according to analysis international. google has stopped its search results. and it's down to 19%. and well, down here in this

little box of others, that's where microsoft is in china. and it's just a fraction of this 2.2%. and gordon chang of forbes.com, says that's why microsoft wants that bond to baidu. >> it can say that bing is used by experts of chinese searchs in english. microsoft doesn't have a hand on the bottom line. this continues mediocre results. microsoft has put so much into china and gotten so little in return, when you consider all of the effort and money they put in there. >> gordon chang there with forbes.com, talking about how microsoft hopes to get a payoff in china, the world's biggest internet market. >> you know, ramy, any internet developments in china raises questions of political

censorship. how does censorship work with english-language searches. microsoft would have to tow the line, wouldn't it? >> to get into bed with baidu, so to speak. baidu's director of international communications told me this in an e-mail. nothing is going to change in terms of how bing handles compliance with local regulation. it will have to do more to comply with chinese law. if microsoft doesn't comply, it will go the way of google, which is out the door. you remember when google stopped censoring its searches. that's because of alleged hack attacks on its servers, targeting the gmail accounts of human rights activists. in 2003, it handed over personal data of chinese dissidents.

microsoft will be keeping those stories in mind as it begins its partnership with baidu later in the year. >> ramy, many thanks for that. what you're about to see is not real. it's the work of hackers. this tweet, disguised as one coming from fox news reads, breaking news. barack obama assassinated. hackers used the fox news politics account to put out a number of fake tweets. saying the u.s. president had died at vice president joe biden had taken over. hours after the hostings appeared, they still haven't been removed. fox news is the latest name to suffer a hack attack. on sunday, hackers attempted to breach apple's website, getting

passwords and user names. these are just the latest in a string of attacks of the likes of sony to at&t and also, the cia. this begs the question, how vulnerable is your computer? dan lothian let someone on his computer. here's what he learned. >> reporter: computer security specialist, mccaffey says 2011 was their busiest year ever. >> the infection spread across p.c., to the east, west, south america. and large clusters or dots indicated on a map, are either going to be more densely populated cities or where it spreads much father or more widespread than other countries.

>> reporter: this is just one? and how many? >> 50,000 to 60,000 per day on our bridge. a massive problem. >> you've seen a steady growth in the password stealing malware. to capture your pass words for sites you may be using. and to use that to access your financial data. >> reporter: pete is a self-proclaimed hacker, by posing as the real thing, who knows plenty on the dark side. >> there might be hacker people that have a particular agenda. they might be criminals out to make money. or they might be showing off for their friends. >> reporter: just to give you an idea of how vulnerable most computers are. let's pretend i'm typing an e-mail to my bank. and peter's over there trying to hack in and grab the information. tell me what you've managed to do.

>> i've infected your computer with a remote actress trojan. and you may have gotten that by clicking on an e-mail link or going to a website. i have complete control of your website. i can see what's own your screen. even steal your passwords. >> reporter: the solution, be skeptical, by unsolicited e-mails. >> before i click on this link, did i actually apply for this? >> reporter: and be cautious about which websites you browse. mccaffey, says it monitors 8,500 new malicious websites being set up every day. dan rivers, cnn, england. next up, we'll turn our attention to india. the food is there. but it's not researching those who desperately need it. we'll find out why one of the fastest-growing economies isn't able to feed its people.

live from cnn london, this is "world business today." on thursday, india is expected to report that food prices rose at a slow pace in the last week of june. heavy rains encouraged farmers to plant more race and more beans. that doesn't mean that it could help in the chronically low-nourished in india. >> reporter: this is how india handles its food. manual labors, conventional techniques at large government warehouse, transporting subsidized grains to millions of the nation's poor. these supplies, however, do not riche this kitchen. this 25-year-old mother of three doesn't have a government ration card that entitles poor people

to buy wheat and rice at discounted prices. she doesn't even know how to go about applying for one. so, she spends most of her daily income of $3 on buying basic food items from the market. buying meat once in a while, she says, blows away a large chunk of her mason husband's income. ensuring nutrition is tough. but this family is on no fixed employment. doctors tell us our children are weak and we should give them nutritious food so they gain weight. but i can't afford the diet, she says. this has prices push higher the food prices. >> several parts of the country, there's malnourishment. nobody can deny that. and there's a need to improve the delivery of our public

distribution system so we can meet the back areas of the country. >> reporter: india ranks among the world's big producers of several commodities and food grains. experts say the country needs to boost farm production to keep pace with population growth. nearly 40% of produce is lost in the nation's poor supply chains. another major challenge, managing deliveries of perishable commodities. >> we don't have a significant and effective chain for storage and transportation of perishable products. like foods, vegetables, et cetera. the government of india is going to invest substantial funds in these sectors. and that should take care of the availability of fruit, vegetables and other perishable food sources over the next three

years. >> reporter: for the rich/poor divide widening in india, planners are discussing a food security bill to end hunger. another ambitious program is under way to create a national database of the country's billion-plus population. so that benefits, such as free food, reach the wide people and don't end up on the black market because of endemic corruption. for now, it's a dilemma for many of india's poor. food prices have been a key factor behind inindia's roaring inflation rate. up 0.4% from april. the government prompted a raise of interest rates in june, for the 10th time in 16 months. i mentioned earlier on, we have seen a little bit of a slowdown in food inflation. but that may not necessarily be

the long-term trend. the government raised fuel prices just last week. that could have a domino effect on the cost of living and the price we pay. another crucial factor affecting india's food output will be the season, which can make or break the harvest. karen maginis has the outlook. >> we'll typically see the monsoon as it ebbs and flows. and we've seen in the past couple weeks a surplus of monsoonal moisture in india. it has backed off a bit. but we're still on the plus side as far as the moisture goes. this is the latest imagery, the enhanced satellite imagery across india. some areas receiving more rainfall than others.

we watch the monsoon season go from june into september. but july seems to be the key month for the volume of monsoonal moisture. we've entered the key month for substantial rainfall. that's proven true in the past 48 hours. look at this. with one reporting station in excess of 300 millimeters. in the next 48 hours, moisture coming up in the bay of bengal. but we see a trough that dips towards the south-central portion of the indian subcontinent. it tapers off around deli and new delhi. that doesn't mean we'll see it end. look at the broad view across the pacific. here's japan, where temperatures have been exceedingly hot. while across china, we've seen hot temperatures from beijing to shanghai to hong kong. we've seen also some very

substantial. flooding rains. they've seen devastating floods here after several days of very heavy downpours. and this mudslide has claimed lives of four people. eight people are reported missing. and about 3,000 people have had to be relocated. you remember, this was a region that was affected by the earthquake in 2008. and one of the bridges, the highways there, was severely damaged. it may take some time to repair. that's a look at your international weather. >> karen maginnis, many thanks. the closing film in the har harry potter opens a new saga for the three, young stars.

gold, as you can see, trading up $2.84 an ounce, to the price of $1,497. speaking of the midas touch, it's the end of an era for three british film stars and their millions of fans. more than 3 million. this is the harry potter phenomenon, draws to a close after ten years. the question is, what's next for the actors who have grown up before our very eyes. the final release of "harry potter and the deathly hallows

part two." >> you're a wizard, harry. >> reporter: the words that mark the start of a movie franchise. in the film that changed the lives of three british schoolchildren forever. >> hermoine, when have our plans actually worked? >> reporter: now, the pupils of hogwarts are saying good-bye. in a film that's darker and more dramatic than any that have come before. >> i think there's a slight undertone of severity and seriousness with the fact that people are losing their lives. it's kind of no longer innocent charms and spells. things are taking off. >> the scale of it and the impact that it has, the drama, is just kind of amazing. >> reporter: in the harry potter and the deathly hallows part two, harry potter must battle

voldemort. for daniel radcliffe, this is one of the toughest roles for his wizarding career. >> part two is the only film out of all seven that i can watch and go, i'm happy with my performance in it. not that there wasn't stuff i would do differently. but overall, i'm pleased with the work i've done. >> reporter: the finale throws off long-awaited romances. and an unlikely hero. for the actors who grew up at hogwarts, it's a highly-charged farewell. >> getting kind of choked up at the end. >> it was the end of an era. it felt like we were moving past our adolescence. >> i started when i was 9. and i'm now 21. it's been everything. it's where i went to school.

it's where i met my friends. it's where i learned everything i know. it's the whole thing. >> reporter: this may be the end of an era at hogwarts for this young actress and her friends. a hollywood education, has only just begun. >> all this potter mania has meaning magic at the box office, as well. the seven movies released each averaged about $909 million in global ticket sales. fans didn't respond to the others quite in the same way they responded to the first film. this one, which actually closed the most at the box office, grossing $975 million in total. how much did it cost to make she's kind of movies? let's look at that comparison, as well. as you can see, the budget for all of them totals about $1 billion. but the question is, how much did they take at the end of the day? take a look at this. it's more than that.

it stands at $6.4 billion. you can see, $1 billion, to $6.4 billion. the equation is pretty obvious, suspect it? there's been some really lucrative films. and they're set to remain extremely important for a whole generation to come. let's take another look at the stock markets here in europe. this is how the picture stands at the moment. we still have a little bit of a mixed picture, as i told you earlier on on the show. cac 40, down less than 1%. and that's after the retailer has been falling to the tune of 10%. that's it for this edition of "world business today." i'm nina dos santos in london. i'll see you in four hours' time. in the meantime, good-bye for now.

welcome. i understand you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy?

um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really? absolutely, and we guarantee results, you know, for a small fee, of course. such are the benefits of having a professional on your side. [whistles, chuckles] why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at...